


Feathers

by ladyc2



Category: Arashi (Band), KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Bratty Nino, M/M, Obligatory Aiba owns a Pet store AU, Talking Parrot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 20:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10704603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyc2/pseuds/ladyc2
Summary: Due to an emergency, Jun ends up helping out in Aiba & Nino's Pet store for an afternoon.





	Feathers

The bell chimed as Jun entered Pet's Paradise, setting off a cacophony of barks, chirps, chitters and other noises Jun couldn't begin to identify. He couldn't see anyone at the counter so he moved further into the store passing by a medium sized grey bird with a black beak and red tail feathers sitting on a wooden perch. 

"FUCK OFF!" squawked the bird as he drew level with it, making Jun jump in surprise. He glared at the bird, but the way it stared right back at him with its beady eyes unsettled him, so after a moment he turned away. Thankfully Aiba came around the corner, wearing thick gloves that went all the way to his elbows and carrying a bucket. 

"Did that bird just swear at me in English?" Jun asked his friend. 

"Probably," Aiba replied. "That's Popo. He's an African Grey - they're quite good at talking. I was just cleaning out some cages. Give me a minute to put this stuff away"

Jun grimaced a little at the thought of mucking out animal cages, but he couldn't hold it for too long. He'd finally managed to accomplish what everyone in his industry had thought was the impossible - getting the top 5 models from Asia not only to agree to be in a photoshoot together - but the shoot itself going so well that nobody's egos got offended. This issue was going to sell like hotcakes, and it was all thanks to him. He'd thrown himself into the project to distract himself from a horrible year and it had paid off so well, it almost felt like his life was turning a new page. So, he was going to celebrate with his best friend, and maybe, finally relax, let go and be happy again rather than the tense, stressed person it felt he'd been for far too long already.

"Where did he even learn that, though?" Jun wondered, following Aiba through the store.

Aiba grinned. "I think Nino's been teaching him."

Nino was the pet store's co-owner, not that Jun had ever managed to catch him working. He seemed to be perpetually on a break whenever Jun stopped by. He looked around the empty store - today didn't seem to be any different. 

"So where is your partner?" 

"He's out picking up some new animals. As soon as he gets back we can go." Aiba frowned for a moment and then brought his wrist up to his face to look at his watch. "I thought he'd be back by now though."

Jun rolled his eyes. Figures he'd be shirking on the job. "Probably stopped at the arcade on the way home."

"He wouldn't do that," Aiba insisted. "Besides, he prefers console games."

"If you say so," Jun replied.

"You know if you two just gave each other a chance, you'd-." He was cut off from his lecture by his phone ringing. He gestured for Jun to give him a moment before answering. 

Jun checked that the counter was clean before he leaned back against, unfortunately that brought his eyes back in contact with the bird which was still staring at him. He poked out his tongue at it. Stupid bird.

"No way!" Aiba exclaimed, followed by, "No, of course, don't worry. I'll sort something out." He hung up looking worried.

"Problem?" Jun asked

"Nino's van broke down. He's stuck on the side of the road." 

"Sounds like some bad luck." Jun couldn't feel too sorry for him.

"Actually it is." Aiba bit his bottom lip in concern. "Those animals need special care. Too long outside a specially curated environment and they might die."

Now Jun felt bad for his attitude. He might not care much for animals, and they might not care much for him, but he didn't wish them any harm. 

"Can you watch the store for me while I go and rescue them?"

"Me? No." Jun held up his hands in abeyance. "I'm terrible with animals. You know that," he whispered. He wasn't sure why he'd lowered his voice exactly, the animals surely didn't understand - or he hoped not anyway.

"You exaggerate. Besides you won't actually have to do anything. No one comes in at this time of day."

Then why don't you just close up for the day, was Jun's thought, but Aiba was giving him his  
pleading look, the one Jun had never been able to resist. "Please," he begged. 

Jun sighed. "You promise I won't have to do anything."

Aiba nodded. 

"All right," he conceded.

"Thank you. Thank you," Aiba said as he grabbed his keys and headed for the door. "I promise I'll make it up to you when I get back."

"Be quick," Jun yelled as the door swung closed behind the other man. He surveyed the store. 

"Well, looks like we're stuck together for a while," Jun spoke aloud partly to himself and partly to the animals in the store. 

"You suck!," Popo replied, this time in Japanese.

Jun clenched his fists. "Shut up," he retorted.

\---

Thankfully so far Aiba's words had come true and no-one had come into the shop. Jun had taken to playing on his phone to pass the time.

"Cuuute!" the bird squawked suddenly making Jun look up. It was the first words he'd heard from it that hadn't been an insult. It was walking up and down on it's perch, bobbing its head in the direction of the shopfront windows, and repeating it's cries of 'cute'. Jun followed its gaze and noticed a person standing at the window looking at the puppies on display. For once, Jun couldn't disagree with the birds assessment - the guy was pretty cute and vaguely familiar, although Jun couldn't think where he might have seen him before. At that moment, said guy looked up and caught Jun looking at him. He smiled, which somehow managed to make him look even better and headed towards the doorway.

"Cute customer!" Popo squawked again as he came level with the birds perch. "Cute customer!"

Cute customer laughed and reached up a finger to scratch the bird on it's crest. The bird ducked it's head down to give easier access. Jun was pretty sure if he'd tried that it would've bitten him.

"You're pretty cute yourself," Cute customer cooed back, "I bet you say that to all the customers."

"Just you! Just you!" Popo squawked back.

"That's adorable," the man said, now turning his attention towards Jun. "How long did it take to teach him?"

"Uh," Jun fumbled, "not long really. It's a quick study."

"Quick study! Quick study!" the bird echoed unintentionally (Jun was sure it was unintentional) helping with his ruse. Jun watched as he continued to scratch Popo, the bird practically preening under his attention. As much as Jun was enjoying the view though, he was pretty sure the guy must have had a reason for entering besides being stared at, so after a moment Jun cleared his throat to catch the other's attention.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked. 

The guy looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry to bother you," he said, "but I couldn't resist the puppies in the window. Would it be alright to have a pat?"

"Sure," Jun agreed. He could probably handle that. "But I'll need a name first." Maybe that would jog his memory on where he knew this guy from.

"Kamenashi Kazuya." 

Kamenashi, the name also sounded familiar but Jun was having trouble placing it. Why was this so hard? It's not like his life was so swarming with good looking guys that he'd fail to remember.

He moved over to the window where the puppies were frolicking about in their pen. Several of them came up to the side as they got closer and started jumping up for attention. Kamenashi lent over and started patting them. They seemed to love him, the rest running up to join in once they noticed. Jun had to admit they were kind of cute - golden fur, big brown eyes, wagging their tails and pouncing about, full of energy.

"One of my friends has retrievers," Kamenashi said, "I've always been a little envious. They're such lovely dogs."

"Want to hold one?" Jun asked and then wanted to slap himself. He was not supposed to be doing anything except holding the fort.

"Can I?" Kamenashi looked like an excited kid and Jun knew exactly why he'd asked.

Jun grit his teeth and reached over the side of the pen, scooping one of the small bundles of fur up. It kept squirming as Jun brought it up to his chest. How exactly did people hold these things again? As he held it out for Kamenashi to take, it yelped and Jun automatically let go, the puppy tumbling to the ground. Luckily it didn't seem hurt, shaking itself off. Jun bent down to retrieve it again but it evaded his grasp and scampered off into the aisles. 

Oops!

"Escapee! Escapee!" shrieked Popo.

"I'm going to kill that bird," Jun muttered under his breath. Next to him, Kamenashi laughed softly.

Want some help catching it? He offered.

"Yes please." Aiba would kill him if anything happened to one of the animals.

Jun set off down the first aisle while Kamenashi took another. He was surprised to find the puppy quite quickly. It had stopped to sniff some products on the shelf. Jun thanked his lucky stars and approached as slowly and carefully as he could. "Here puppy, puppy," he called quietly in a tone he'd heard Aiba use when talking to various animals. When he got within arm's reach he lunged at the dog but the thing bounded off and he was left grasping at air. It barked at him, more of a high-pitched yelp really before running out of sight around the corner of the shelves. Jun lay on the ground where he'd landed with a thud and bit back a curse. Pushing himself up, he moved onto the next aisle but the puppy was nowhere to be seen. He moved onto the next one, hoping that it stayed within these lanes and didn't go running off to the part of the store that held the other animals. He turned into the next aisle only to find Kamenashi cuddling the puppy in his arms. Jun goggled for a minute.

"How did you do that?" he eventually asked.

Kamenashi held up a bag of dog treats. "I cheated," he confessed. Jun inwardly groaned. Why hadn't he thought of that? Such an obvious solution. Jun watched as Kamenashi stood, the puppy burying its head in the crook of his arm as if getting ready for sleep. Kamenashi looked up catching Jun watching him once again.

"Do I have dog slobber on my face?" he asked, bringing his arm up and using the sleeve to wipe at his face.

Jun shook his head. "No," he replied. He floundered for a moment on a reason as to why he was staring that didn't boil down to 'you're totally hot'. He settled on partial truth. "You just look really familiar but I can't figure out from where. Have we met before?"

"We haven't, but it's not surprising. It must be the hair throwing you off. I just got it cut earlier." Kamenashi explained, or tried too - Jun didn't really understand and his confusion must have shown for Kamenashi clarified. "I'm work on TV. 'Going!' It's a sports news show. I'm one of the presenters."

Of course, now Jun could see it. He watched the show whenever he could - though that wasn't as often as he would have liked, his job sometimes keeping him very late if a deadline was close. Kamenashi might have been right about the hair throwing him off; the last time Jun had watched the show his hair had been light brown and wavy, now it was shorter and darker with bangs falling over his left eye.

They moved back towards the pen and Jun watched as Kamenashi carefully deposited the dog back to it's brothers and sisters. "Your new style looks good," Jun complimented. Very good, his mind added internally.

"Thanks," Kamenashi replied. He pulled out his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

"Huh?"

"For the dog treats," Kamenashi explained.

Jun protested. "I can't let you pay for them. It's my fault the dog got loose."

"But if I hadn't come in the puppy never would have been out of it's pen in the first place." Kamenashi pointed out.

"Still…" Jun couldn't let Kamenashi pay for the treats. It didn't seem fair. He searched his brain for a way out that Kamenashi couldn't disagree with. Kamenashi beat him to the punch though.

"What about a compromise?" he suggested. "I buy the treats and you buy me dinner." Kamenashi smiled hopefully, but his tongue darted out and swiped his bottom lip, betraying his nervousness.  
Jun couldn't resist.

"Deal," he agreed.

Kamenashi paid for the treats and then they swapped numbers, with Kamenashi suggesting he knew the perfect place and that he'd text him the details later. Jun watched him go a grin breaking out on his face that he couldn't quite contain. Behind him he heard a clatter and then Aiba and Nino were entering from the back rooms. 

"Wait, was that Kamenashi?" Nino raced to the door, pulling it open and peering first one way down the street and then the other. Eventually he brought his head back in. "I knew those puppies would get him in here." He glared at Jun. "You better not have scared him off."

Jun smugly held up his phone with Kamenashi's details on it, "Does this look like I scared him off?"

Nino made a grab for the phone but Jun held it up out of the way. Nino made a face and slunk off, as he passed Popo, he made a gesture and it jumped from it's perch onto his shoulder. They left for the back room

Good riddance, Jun thought. He turned to Aiba who was grinning.

"Congrats. It's about time you started dating again."

A date. The full importance of what just happened hit Jun like a freight train.

"No, no, no this is bad," he wailed. He rushed up and grabbed Aiba by the arm. "He thinks I work here. Quick, I need to know everything there is to know about animals and running a pet store."

"Wouldn't you just be better off telling him the truth?" Aiba advised.

"Are you insane?" Jun replied

"No, but you are if you think he's going to actually believe you're an animal expert." Aiba shook his head ruefully. "Come on, it's still not too late for lunch." He grabbed Jun's arm and started steering him towards the door. "We can discuss your strategy while we eat."

Jun let himself be led out, grumbling to himself - he could totally pass as an animal expert.

\---

The place Kamenashi had picked for their date was a medium sized restaurant, bustling with salarymen eating dinner and getting drunk on one side and a few families on the other. Jun had arrived early and now he drummed his fingers on the table as he waited. This was a little more homely than he'd been expecting - perhaps he didn't think of this as a date, maybe he just wanted more information about adopting a dog. Aiba had been less than helpful, insisting that there was no way he could teach him everything and that he should just tell the truth. Or maybe Kamenashi thought Jun wouldn't be able to afford anything fancier on a pet store salary. 

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Most likely, he was just overthinking it - Sho had always said that was a big problem for him. And then Jun had had to scoff, because wasn't Sho the king of over-analysing everything. Gee, no wonder that hadn't worked out.

The door to the restaurant opened and Jun looked up, but it was just a young couple chatting and giggling as they took off their coats. He was about to go back to contemplating the tabletop when the couple moved further into the room revealing Kamenashi standing behind them. He looked good, wearing dark jeans and a matching tailored black jacket with a grey shirt underneath. Jun had to give him credit, it was both stylish and yet not overdone for the environment; something he probably couldn't say about his own outfit. He unconsciously tugged at the scarf around his neck, feeling over-dressed. 

Kamenashi was scanning the room and when he spotted Jun, he grinned, coming over.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologised as he took the seat opposite.

Jun shook his head. "It's fine. I haven't been waiting long," he lied. If Kamenashi noticed the nearly empty beer in front of him he didn't remark on it. Instead he grabbed the menu and waved for a waiter to come over.

"I haven't eaten all day, I'm starving," he complained. 

Despite his complaining Kamenashi chatted with the waiter for a few minutes after they placed their orders; they obviously knew each other well. This strangely made Jun feel a little better. 

"Come here often?" he asked as the waiter finally left. 

Kame nodded. "The food here is the best," he enthused. "I'd say don't tell anyone, but a friend of mine runs the place, so really, tell everyone."

Jun laughed at Kamenashi's enthusiasm, which caused Kamenashi to blush a little under Jun's gaze. Jun felt his own skin heating up in response as they both grinned at each other goofily over the tabletop. He coughed to cover up his embarrassment.

"You look great by the way," Jun said. 

"You too." Kamenashi replied. He reached out across the table and felt the fabric of Jun's scarf. "I love this - you have to tell me where you shop."

Jun pretended consternation. "Well, it is a highly kept secret - can't have everybody looking as fabulous as me, you know. But for you, Kamenashi, I'll consider it." 

Kamenashi frowned, which was not the reaction Jun had been hoping for. Before he could panic about where exactly he'd gone wrong already though, Kamenashi was speaking. "Ugh, Kamenashi reminds me too much of work." He looked at a Jun with a cross between a pout and a plea. "Please, call me Kazuya."

"Kazuya," Jun tried it out and Kazuya beamed. "Well then if we're going to be on first name basis, call me Jun," he added.

"Jun it is," Kame answered.

They were interrupted then by their meals arriving. Kazuya grabbed his chopsticks and tucked in straight away. Jun watched in wonder as he gulped his food down. He obviously hadn't been lying about being hungry. He must have felt Jun's gaze on him, looking up from his plate apologetically and moderating his pace. They ate in silence for a few minutes, and Jun was happy to note Kazuya hadn't been wrong about the food. It was delicious. 

"How is the puppy?" Kazuya asked. "No ill effects from its escape attempt?"

"It's fine," Jun assured. Honestly he had no idea - hadn't even thought to check on it. Maybe he should text Aiba later to be sure.

"That's great," Kazuya responded. "My dogs loved the treats, so it all worked out in the end."

"You have dogs?" Jun asked, surprised.

"Three," Kazuya replied and Jun nearly choked on his food. 

He took a drink to ease his cough. "That's a lot," he remarked. Just the thought of three dogs - Jun could barely comprehend. How could he even think of looking at another one. 

"Well they're all small dogs, so they aren't too much of a handful." Kame's expression turned wistful. "Although sometimes I wish I had more time to spend with them. Especially when I'm sent away for work." 

"You're good with animals," Jun noted. 

Kamenashi giggled. "And you're really not."

Jun looked up in surprise. Busted. Kamenashi didn't look upset, in fact he seemed rather amused. He supposed he should just confess.

"No, I'm not," he admitted. "Honestly it's my friend's store. There was an emergency so I was watching the store for him until he got back. I know nothing about animals, and truthfully," he may as well confess everything, especially as Kazuya was a pet owner, "most of them don't seem to like me very much."

Kazuya's tongue darted out to swipe his bottom lip. Jun was so entranced by that motion he almost missed Kazuya's own admission. 

"Well since we're being honest, it wasn't just the puppies that brought me into the store," he confessed. "I walk by that store every day on my way home, but I'd never seen you in there before. Plus, as I said before, I already own three dogs, so as much as I'd love to have one of those little guys, i don't think my apartment could take it."

Jun chuckled. He was glad Kazuya wasn't mad at him for lying and that his own intentions hadn't been so pure made Jun feel better. "Well, we make a fine pair don't we?"

Kame fiddled with his chopsticks, swirling them around his bowl. "So, if you don't work at the store, what is it you actually do?"

"I'm an editor for a fashion magazine."

Kazuya's eyes's widened in interest. "Which one?"

"Non-no," Jun replied.

"Cool," Kazuya enthused. "Our green room always has copies. I often read it while they do my makeup."

Jun was impressed. Not many men would candidly admit to reading women's fashion magazines. But now he was wondering why Kazuya had never been in their sister magazine. Judging from his outfit, he was certainly fashionable enough. While Jun mostly worked for the women's version, he'd occasionally collaborated or worked on layouts for the men's version. He could see it now, a feature on the most fashionable male tv presenters. He made a mental note to do a proposal.

They talked about the fashion business for a while and Jun was pleased to note that Kazuya seemed quite knowledgeable - he wasn't just pretending like Jun had been about animals. When the conversation switched to Kazuya's job, Jun made sure to pay attention and ask relevant questions. The conversation soon shifted again though, because they couldn't talk about Kazuya's job without talking about the sports involved and it was clear that baseball was where Kazuya's true passion lay.

"Sorry," Kazuya looked down at the table in embarrassment after a long spiel about the current league tables. "When I get started on baseball I tend to not shut up. My friend is always complaining about it.

"No," Jun assured with a shake of his head, "it's great that you're so passionate. Makes me wish there was something I was so into."

Eventually, with their meals finished and the conversation winding down, it was time to leave. Jun paid for the meal as he had promised. They stepped out onto the street - there were a few people milling about, waiting for taxis or just chatting.

"I had fun," Kazuya said.

"Me too," Jun agreed. It was going so well, it seemed almost a shame for it to be over. He cast his mind about for what else they could do. Would suggesting they go back to his place for coffee be too forward? Kazuya had a better idea, grabbing Jun by the sleeve and tugging him off to the side of the building where it was a bit more private, before leaning in and kissing him gently.

"Was that okay?" Kazuya asked after pulling away.

"Yeah," Jun breathed, wanting very much to do that again. But then his brain started working. His eyes darted around to see if anyone had seen them.

"Are you sure?" Kazuya asked, "because you don't really look it right now." 

"No I did," Jun assured, "very much." Kazuya didn't look convinced, so Jun explained further. "It's just that you are a celebrity. Aren't you worried…" He trailed off.

Kazuya shrugged. "I used to be, when I first started out." He leaned back against the wall of the building for support before continuing on. "But pushing that side of my life down was not working out so well for me, so I decided to just be me and let things fall as they will." 

Jun got the impression that there was a story there that Kazuya wasn't saying. He hoped one day that Kazuya would be able to share it with him. 

"Besides, I'm not that big of a celebrity." He laughed softly. Jun thought it might be to cover up some nervousness. "Does it bother you?" he asked after a moment.

It was Jun's turn to shrug it off. "With my job, people tend to automatically assume I'm gay anyway, so it's never really been a problem."

Kazuya turned to look at Jun, his demeanour and tone becoming all sultry, "Well, since we're both fine with it." He grabbed Jun's scarf and reeled him in. The kiss was deeper this time, their tongues exploring each other's mouths and when they finally parted Jun needed to take a deep breath.

Kazuya buried his face into Jun's chest, much like the puppy had back at the pet store a few days ago. "My place or your's?" he asked softly. Jun didn't wait, he grabbed Kazuya's arm and pulled him back out onto the sidewalk to hail a taxi. 

"Mine," he answered forcefully. 

\---

"Well, from the look on your face, I'd say it went well," Aiba noted happily, as Jun entered the pet store the next day.

"Couldn't have gone better." Jun grinned

Aiba looked at him seriously. "He knows the truth?"

Jun nodded and Aiba relaxed and matched his grin. "Glad to hear it."

Jun glanced about and was surprised to see Nino actually out in shop front for a change. He was standing by Popo, holding up his phone up towards the bird. Jun caught a glimpse of the picture and was surprised to note it was of Kazuya. It looked like he'd taken it off a TV screen. 

"Handsome," Nino said to the bird slowly, emphasising the sounds.

"Handsome!" Popo squawked back.

Well that explained a few things. Jun kept watching as Nino took the phone down and swiped to a new picture. Jun craned his neck to see. This time it was a picture of him. Jun frowned. When had Nino taken that? Nino held the new picture up to the bird.

"Jerk!" he said, much more loudly than necessary

"Jerk!" Popo squawked, flapping it's wings and bobbing up and down on it's perch. Nino congratulated the bird and gave it some sort of treat.

Jun narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything, Aiba laid a stalling hand on his arm. Jun took a deep breath. Today was a good day, he reminded himself. The sun was shining, his magazine was out on the stands, and best of all, he had a new boyfriend. He didn't need to get worked up about Aiba's bratty co-worker. Then a devious idea sneaked into his head; it would be petty but satisfying.

"Kazuya is an animal lover though," Jun mused in mock concern making sure his voice was loud enough that Nino would be sure to hear. "Maybe I should work on that. Get to know an animal so I can relate." 

Aiba looked confused and then concerned.

"You," Nino scoffed in disbelief. "Want to adopt an animal?"

Jun ignored Nino.

"Yes, I think a bird would be best. You know start small." He winked at Aiba and then as innocently as he could asked. "How much for Popo?"


End file.
